August 2020 Newsletter
Blue Skies, Humidity, Hot Sun! Summer is still here! Alright, August 2020, you’re up!
Monthly Motivator
Your work is to discover your skill and then with all your heart to give yourself to it. Be thankful for the opportunities given to you to make a difference in the world. That's the mark of a true professional
August Schedule
We will be running Monday-Thursdays as normal in August.
COVID RECOVERY
DiagnosTEX has not ceased service since this pandemic has begun, but we have had to adapt and make some changes to our standard procedures, because there is no comfortable norm at this time. DiagnosTEX will be seeing patients that have recovered from COVID-19 following hospitalization, whether due to pre-existing dysphagia, overall deconditioning from the Coronavirus infection or impaired airway protection secondary to prolonged intubation. DiagnosTEX will see patients that have met the CDC criteria for “Discontinuation of Transmission Based Precautions” as outlined on the CDC website. Please see our COVID recovery packet on our website at www.dysphagiadiagnostex.com .
Dysphagia Evaluation during COVID
Oropharyngeal dysphagia (OD) is a very common complication in post ICU patients that have required intubation/mechanical ventilation or had tracheotomies or NG tubes.. This is why an MBSS is so important? Patients with prolonged intubation should have assessed swallowing before the first oral intake. To determine appropriate therapeutic approaches, you must know what, when and why the dysphagia is occurring. Let DiagnosTEX help you do that. Therapy needs to be customized as there is no one single approach that fits all patients. . Withholding this medical procedure increases medical liability risks as well as adverse outcome to a known or unknown diagnosis of dysphagia. It is so very important to keep their respiratory status as strong and uncompromised as possible, considering the effect of COVID 19 to the respiratory system if someone does become infected.
AMPCARE ESP
The Ampcare Effective Swallowing Protocol (ESP™) Therapy System has been cleared by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration for a new Indication For Use (IFU) for post-ventilator treatment for patients suffering from the coronavirus (COVID-19). The FDA designation confirms that the Ampcare Effective Swallowing Protocol (ESP) Therapy System is indicated for the treatment of post-extubation dysphagia (PED), due to disuse atrophy resulting from ventilator support and/or feeding tube support. The FDA designation acknowledges that Ampcare ESP’s therapeutic exercises and neuromuscular stimulation of the necessary muscles for swallowing should be considered as potential effective treatments for COVID-19 patients after extubation. Medical professionals, specifically, Speech & Language Pathologists (SLPs) must be trained and certified before using Ampcare’s ESP products. Ampcare offers 3 different training options (e.g Online, Live, Hybrid: On-Demand & Webinar) and they all provide the SLP with 8 hours of Advanced Level American Speech and Hearing Association Continuing Education and will certify them in ESP.
ZOOM Webinar – Ampcare ESP!
August 19-20th – 8 hour Advance ASHA CE. www.ampcarellc.com
2020 ASHA Convention
Scheduled for November 19–21 in San Diego, California, has been cancelled. The ASHA Convention has been cancelled only once before, in 1943, during World War II. There will NOT be a digital or virtual 2020 ASHA Convention to replace the cancelled in-person event.
DiagnosTEX’s anticipated September CEU course is now on hold until further notice.
Let’s not forget about the others - Strokes
A huge collateral damage to acute stroke patients is occurring during the COVID-19 pandemic. We are initiating fewer emergency treatments or missing the therapeutic window due to delays in hospital admission or referrals or patients preferring not to enter the hospital at all. In some regions, acute vascular diseases have probably killed more patients than COVID-19 during this period. The duration of the drop in acute stroke activity in our stroke units and the morbimortality associated with this fact will have to be evaluated carefully in the near future.
Joan Montaner, MD, PhD et al., Stroke. 2020 Jun 8, Break in the Stroke Chain of Survival Due to COVID-19
FREE Online Clinics
During June 15 through August 14, 2020 the University of St. Augustine will be providing FREE teletherapy (both evaluations and treatment) for children and adults. All student clinicians will be supervised by a certified and licensed speech pathologist. For more information please contact Amber Lemmon at alemmon@usa.edu
WORKMANS COMP Insurance
DiagnosTEX is seeing workman’s comp claims, please call us if you have any questions.
PERSPECTIVE
This is so much more than a health crisis. COVID has had such an impact on humanity as we are social creatures by heavenly design. This is now a human, economic, and social crisis. Keep perspective! We do not see things as they are, we see things as we are. The best step to bridging the communication gap is to better understand the other perspective. I have worked very diligently over my professional career to consider this each and every time I step into someone’s life (patient or family) as a healthcare professional. Perspective is not only what you look at but also where you are looking from. Never underestimate the emotional and mental stress on family members who cannot visit and confirm that there has been proper care and comfort provided to their loved ones. Residents at the end of life stage at facilities in lockdown are as close to imprisonment as you can get without being incarcerated for a crime. Most families will remember the absence more the last moments. Those who care for these patients and families need to realize that you cannot change the circumstances, but you can change your perspective, and in that moment, you could change someone’s day.